So my sister Sue has been visiting. Sue is 50 and looks like she’s 29, with a matching disposition and complexion. Last week we went to see the exhibition, The Universe Within at the Masonic Hall. It consists of 100 or so actual bodies that have been preserved with a process called “plastination,” a kind of plastic petrification. The exhibit was a bit more visual than scientific, and offered several really stunning visuals, like a flayed man holding a hanger with his skin draped over it, an Asian-looking St. Bartholomew, and a guy sliced in half, the two halves turned to consider the other. There was also a cool exhibit of a person sliced horizontally into pieces about an inch thick, the slices spaced about an inch apart in a 15 foot case. Most of the guys were not terribly well endowed, but it was hard to tell since most of them had their entire skins pulled off. Only one particular specimen stood out, surrounded by giggling art students sketching his musculature. The bodies reminded me of the wax replicas of the various systems of the body made in the late 18th century in Tuscany, but lacking the scientific and even artistic qualities of those exquisite studies. The current models weren’t abstracted by the notion of an approximation, they were actual bodies, and maybe that’s what made it strange. All of those organs worked once. Instead of experiencing a sense of wonder at humankind’s scientific advancement, I felt like a steak by the end of the show.
Speaking of steak, Philip came over for dinner tonight. A salade niçoise, topped with a sliced rare tuna steak. I wanted to make him dinner so that he could relax, but instead he brought the dinner and cooked it, too. I look at all my friends now as if I can see their insides. I just can’t believe it all works. We’re all steaks.
I’m still in the midst of my continuing-mid-life crisis, although it looks like I’m going to be making a ton of art in the coming months, so thank you Cosmos, for the timing.